


Blue Eye, Black Eye

by SilverHorizon



Category: Free!
Genre: Bullying, M/M, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-18
Updated: 2014-07-18
Packaged: 2018-02-09 10:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1979256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHorizon/pseuds/SilverHorizon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin finds out something about Aiichirou that he's definitely not okay with. Set shortly after season 1.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue Eye, Black Eye

**Author's Note:**

> Just an old fic I found in the depths of my computer and thought I'd share here!

Rin slammed the door open, walked in and slammed it shut again. “I'm back!”, he shouted, and let himself fall onto the lower bunk bed. Aiichiro was sitting on the top bunk, doing whatever he was doing right now, and surely he would lean down any moment now and ask Rin to tell him how it went and all that.

Rin waited a few seconds. Nothing. Did the grey-haired boy not realize his return? No way.

A few more seconds. Still, nothing. Not even a Hello.

“...Ai?”, Rin asked carefully. It had only been recently when he had started calling him Ai, at first unsure if it was okay for the younger boy that he didn't use any suffixes, but apparently it was.

Still, no answer. Rin did something he really only did on rare occasions. “Ai-chan?”

A sob. A very quiet and oppressed sob, but Rin could definitely hear it. He got up to his feet instantly and climbed up the ladder to Aiichiro's bunk. There he was, hugging his knees and burying his face in his legs. “Ai?”, Rin asked again, unsure how to deal with this. He had never seen the younger boy like this before. “What's wrong?”

Aiichiro slowly turned his head around to Rin, revealing a black eye. The older boy's eyes widened a bit for a short moment. “How did that happen?”, he asked immediately. Ai hesitated for a second. “I...uh...I fell over. You know, I can be clumsy at times...” “Do you really think I'm buying that?” It would have almost made Rin angry if it wasn't so concerning. “Now tell me the truth.”

Aiichiro looked away, and Rin noticed more bruises on his roommate's arms. He couldn't help wondering if he had even more of those, but it was impossible to tell since the rest of his skin was covered with clothing.

A bit awkwardly, Rin carefully put an arm around Ai. The boy looked really unhappy, and the excited, energetic sparkling in his eyes was gone. “Ai...tell me already...” Being nice or uplifting simply wasn't one of Rin's strengths. However, it did seem to work, Aiichiro started leaning against him lightly. “Uhm...”, he murmured, “It...it's nothing, nothing important...” Rin sighed, becoming really impatient now. “Ai.”, he said slightly harsher than intended. “Tell me. Now.”

Ai took a deep breath, before looking at Rin again. “I...uh...I ran into Sato-senpai and Takashi-senpai and they...they told me to get lost but this time I said no, so they...they...” Aiichiro whimpered and curled up into a ball. Rin could only stare in shock. Ai was...bullied? “How long has this been going on?”, he asked, while carefully pulling the younger boy a bit closer. Ai gulped. “Some...time now?”, he answered, and one second later added: “I'm sorry! I know I should stand up for myself and it is pathetic but I don't know what to do!”

Rin froze after hearing that. How...how could Ai possibly say that? “It's not pathetic, moron. They're two and they're older than you, how are you supposed to stand a chance? You should've told me sooner about this.” “I'm sorry!”, Aiichiro blurted out, bursting into tears and scooting away from Rin. “I-I was too scared!”

Help, Rin thought, oh god, is there any way this boy won't beat himself up about something? He sighed once again, and crawled over to Ai, who had absconded to the other end of the bed. Trying to look calm and friendly (which was not a particularly easy thing for Rin), he took the other boy's hands. “Listen.”, he said, sounding calmer than he actually was. “Stop beating yourself up about all this, and also, stop apologizing for things that aren't your fault.” Ai looked away once again, and the urge to apologize for even this was written all over his face. Rin took a deep breath before continuing. “Look, it...it's okay to be scared. And nobody can expect you to stand up all alone against those two assholes. Hell, you're younger and smaller than them and they're two of the strongest students at the school! Also, two of the biggest pricks.” A short, quiet noise came from Ai, and there was something happening in his face. Was he...chuckling? “Ai, I know I didn't really seem to care much for you just until lately but...” Rin hesitated a second, searching for words. “...you should know that I actually...do, kind of, uh, care about you. I guess.”

For a second, nothing happened. Both of them just sat still, and thoughts shot through Rin's head. Had he said the wrong thing? God, he definitely had said the wrong thing. Damn him and his bad emotional skills. Was he really this unable to help Ai?

“Ai...”, Rin started, but never came to finish. Aiichiro shot forwards, flinging his arms around the red-haired boy and burying his face in his shirt. Rin froze and just stared for a second, surprised by the sudden reaction. Slowly, he started relaxing again and gently put his arms around Ai, one hand stroking the young boy's silver hair. There were tears on his shirt, making their way through the fabric onto Rin's skin. The tall boy let his head sink until his face was resting on Aiichiro's head, and slowly closed his eyes.

They had never been that close before. Physically just barely, the one time when Ai had thought Rin was planning to kill himself, back then, when they were still Nitori and Matsuoka-senpai. And emotionally, emotionally not at all. Rin had always kind of pitied Aiichiro for his lack of self esteem, but only recently realized how much Ai was doing for him and how precious he was. And maybe, after all that he had done for Rin, maybe it was time he did something for Ai.

They just sat still for a while, hugging and Aiichiro crying into Rin's chest. Eventually, Ai calmed down and started pulling back a bit from his roommate. “Matsuoka-senpai...” “Don't Matsuoka me.”, Rin interrupted before Aiichiro could really say anything. “I told you to call me Rin.” Ai's bright blue eyes were as wide as tennis balls. “Rin-senpai...”, he murmured. The older boy started smiling a bit. “Ai?” “Thank you.”

* * *

Rin hurried down the hallway and slammed the door open. “Fuck, fuck, fuck”, he murmured. There were already people swimming in the pool. Mikoshiba sighed and walked over to Rin, followed by Aiichiro. “You're late...but at least you came at all.”, the captain growled, obviously not in the best mood. “Sato has bruises so bad that, if you believe what he says, he won't be able to move for the next three weeks...and Takashi has a broken nose.” Mikoshiba sighed, while Ai raised his head and furrowed his eyebrows. “Well, how unfortunate.”, Rin responded, walking past the two other swimmers and taking off his shirt. “But, you know, maybe a short time-out couldn't hurt either of them.” And with those words, he took off his pants, revealing his swimsuit underneath, and jumped into the cool, dazzling water.


End file.
